


You, O Dream Of Glory

by Roverlord



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Their personalities will be a bit different because different environments, feedback please
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-07
Packaged: 2019-11-05 10:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17917214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roverlord/pseuds/Roverlord
Summary: What if Steve Rogers had been born German and Johann Schmidt had been born American?





	You, O Dream Of Glory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The main title and all the chapter titles come from a cool German patriotic song from 1800's (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fCqrwn4Hmy0), 'Wenn alle untreu werden'. I think it fits this rather well.
> 
> Eric Koening was a Howling Commando in comics. He's there mainly because i needed more than two good guys.
> 
> Asthma cigarettes were apparently a thing in 1900's (and they could get you a little high because they were "herbal", whatever that excatly meant), and pretty much everybody smoked, so expect to see that a lot.

Steffen Rutger was born in Berlin, during The Great War. His father fell in battle, and his country lost. He doesn't really remember a lot about the wartime or his father, but he remembers what came after.

Germany lost it's status as an empire, and at  _least_ half it's landmass. The reparations wrecked the economy, and the society crumbled into chaos and anarchy. It was the fault of the Austrians for starting the war, and the fault of the Brits and the French everything went to hell! There were regular fights on the streets and hate speeches, and the situation was rapidly getting worse.

Like right now. Steffen tried to hit the guy attacking him and Erik, but it didn't really help. As in not at all. The guy hit him back, and he crashed into trash cans. The attacker grapped Erik and was about to punch him, but Steffen got up and somehow managed to tackle him.

Steffen could see their neighbor Koening peeking from behind the corner, not daring to fight the nazi, but franctically gesturing for Erik to come with him, which he did. When the boy was somewhat safe, Steffen pulled a knife, stabbing the nazi in the eye. The man screamed, giving Steffen an opening to kick him on the family jewels and hit him with a trashcan lid. Steffen then scrambled over the gate and ran for his life, now half-blind nazi pursuing him.

Steffen couldn't breathe and could feel the asthma attack coming quickly, but could not stop. He saw a group of communists brewing trouble and ran into the group, hoping the nazi would not be mad enough to follow him, which he wasn't. Steffen collapsed on the street, the bellowing mob not caring and almost trampling him.

Koening, who probably and hopefully had accompanied Erik to his home, found Steffen, helped him up, and gave him his asthma cigarettes. On the way back home, Steffen smoked a few and got a little high, thank Gott Koening was with him and there wasn't anything dangerous in sight. Erik was okay, for now, but the situation was rapidly worsening, for everybody and especially Erik's people.

 

Not even a year later, Steffen was very, very screwed. Erik's family had escaped to Poland, but the nazis had invaded it, and Steffen was hiding a jewish scientist in his cellar apartment. If he got caught....

Who was Steffen kidding? It is not "if", it's "when". Call him cynical, but that's what growing up in Weimar Republic and living in nazi Germany will do to you. The scientist, Erskine, had developed a super soldier serum, and had a getaway to France, but bringing the serum along would be too dangerous. He had to get rid of it somehow. Steffen, in his stupid remains of optimism, volunteered as the first human test subject.

After a moment of uncertainty, Erskine acceptes, and asked Steffen to stay who he was; Not a perfect soldier, but a good man.

* * *

 

Dr. Jonathan Smith was pissed off. In Dr. Erskine's lack of a fitting canditate for the super soldier treatment, Colonel Phillips wanted to give it to one of his vulgar, weak, predentious crowd of soldiers.

Colonel Phillips would not have it. Neither would his soldiers. They weren't worthy of the power. Jonathan had helped Erskine recreate it and he had heard of what had happened to the guy Erskine gave it to in Germany. He had tested it on rats and the first results had matched those descriptions, but they had perfected it, together. Jonathan had the right to it. It would not even exist without him.

 

The not-good Colonel eventually forced them to test it on one Gilmore Hodge. God, how Jonathan hated him. He was not and had never been a religious man, but prayed that the guy would die. The more horrifyingly, the better. He should probably be concerned about the pleasure he got from the man's screams, but he wasn't because the man was Hodge.

Sadly, the operation was a success. But Hodge didn't seem that sane anymore (maybe it was because Jonathan had handed Erskine not the latest version of the formula, but one before it), not that he had been the paragon of sanity to begin with. Jonathan discreetly looked around, and saw a man from the observation room coming down the stairs and drawing a gun.

After a nanosecond of shock (this was a secret government facility, for God's sake! That man had come there in the senator's car!), he yelled in alarm and pushed Erskine off his feet, obviously he was there for him. Their research could not perish! He heard a bang, and the bullet hit, sinking into his flesh. Then three more, before Hodge, who had definitely lost his mind, literally jumped on the shooter.

 

Jonathan woke up staring at the white ceiling. A hospital. He closed his eyes and listened to the voices on the other side of the door. His vision kept fading from normal to white to black, but he could hear clearly. He was going to die. What and end to a man like him.

Unless...

Erskine eventually stepped in, telling him what he already knew. He was mortally wounded and the doctor could not save him. He hadn't really planned it go like this, but now he probably wouldn't need to steal the serum. Erskine could give it to him.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan" Erskine had never really trusted him, so was he truly sorry? Doesn't matter, really "They did all they could. So did we, even though it turned out to be in vain. Hodge died of organ failure, the project will be shut down." Jonathan weakly grapped Erskine's wrist and pulled him closer, taking care the men outside could not hear him.

"I think i have a solution that would benefit us all."


End file.
